Intravenous Lidocaine for Post-Tonsillectomy Pain in Pediatric Patients

The purpose of this study is to determine whether giving lidocaine intravenously during and after a tonsillectomy surgery is effective in decreasing postoperative pain when compared to placebo.

Participants will be in one of two arms. Those in Arm 1 will receive a lidocaine bolus and infusion throughout the initial recovery period while those in Arm 2 will receive an equal volume of normal saline. Subjects will be monitored and assessed for pain during their time in the hospital and followed up on at home for a week after the surgery. Primary outcomes will be measure of pain. Secondary outcome measures will include pain medication use, emergence delirium, incidence of laryngospasm, and side effects.

Inclusion criteria

• Scheduled for Tonsillectomy (with or without Adenoidectomy) with Dr. Kathleen Billings or Dr. Stephen Hoff at Lurie Children's Hospital
• American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) patient classification I-III (Healthy patient to a patient with mild systemic disease)

Exclusion criteria

• Physical or developmental delays
• Psychiatric illness
• Current use of sedative or anticonvulsant medications
• Pre-existing renal disease (ranging from stage 2 [mild] to stage 5 [end stage])
• Pre-existing cardiovascular disease (including, not limited to congenital heart disease or arrythmia)
• Pre-existing liver disease
• Pre-existing cerebral or neuromuscular disease
• Patient or family history of Malignant Hyperthermia
• Recent history of upper respiratory infection within last 7 days
• Regular use of analgesic medication
• Diagnosis of severe obstructive sleep apnea requiring overnight stay for observation
• Other procedure scheduled in addition to tonsillectomy
• History of allergies to local anesthetics